ILLINI LIVE: Georgetown beats Illinois 88-80

CHAMPAIGN — Illinois almost overcame their youth and overcame being without top scorer Trent Frazier, but the Hoyas had enough to put Illinois away 88-80 on Tuesday night at the State Farm Center.

James Akinjo led Georgetown with 19 points and freshman Ayo Dosunmu led all scorers with 25 points for Illinois.

The Illini play on Monday against Gonzaga at the Maui Invitational.

Georgetown leading Illinois 75-74 with 3:39 left

The Hoyas are shooting 51.6 percent from the field in the second half, and are outrebounding the Illini 20-7 in the second half.

Guards powering through

Illinois has a 72-68 lead over Georgetown with 6:51 left in the game. Guards Ayo Dosunmu and Andres Feliz have combined for 34 points — 21 coming in the second half.

Big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili picked up his fourth foul with 8:06 left in the game, which could prove big down the stretch.

Ayo takes over

Illinois freshman Ayo Dosunmu has 12 points in the second half and Illinois and Georgetown are tied 61-all with 11:38 left in the game. Dosunmu poked the ball away on defense, which was picked up by Andres Feliz who hit a layup in transition while getting fouled.

Illinois has a chance to take the lead out of the timeout with a Feliz free throw.

Illini trail by two

Georgetown opened the second half hot, on a 6-1 run, but a 7-2 run has Illinois back within two points, 49-47, with 15:40 left in the game.

Freshman Giorgi Bezhanishvili started the run with a 3-pointer, followed by a reverse layup from Ayo Dosunmu and a Kipper Nichols basket in transition off a nice feed from Andres Feliz.

Georgetown leads Illinois 39-37 at halftime

Georgetown hit 5 of its last 7 shots before halftime.

Ayo Dosunmu and Giorgi Bezhanishvili each have nine points for Illinois. Kipper Nichols has seven, Da'Monte Williams has five, Andres Feliz has four and Alan Griffin has three.

Nichols also has four rebounds and three assists.

Georgetown is shooting 59 percent from the field and Illinois is shooting 43 percent.

Illinois holds a 17-14 rebounding edge.

Kipper getting going, Illinois and Georgetown tied

Kipper Nichols has seven points for the Illini who are in a back-and-forth game with Georgetown. They are tied 37-37 with 44 seconds left in the first half.

Ayo Dosunmu and Andres Feliz have been in foul trouble.

Kipper gets on the board

Illinois forward Kipper Nichols scored on a layup set up in a half-court set. Illinois trails Georgetown 32-28 with 3:57 left in the first half.

Freshman Alan Griffin has been active on the glass while on the floor.

Griffin gets first career bucket for Illini

Freshman Alan Griffin came off the bench and hit a big game-tying 3-pointer for Illinois. After a scoreless drought of nearly five minutes, Illinois is starting to get rhythm again, but Georgetown leads 30-26 with 5:05 left in the first half.

Georgetown leads Illinois 16-15

Illinois is on a 3:24 scoring drought and is 1 of the last 10 from the field. Georgetown leads 16-15 with 11:20 left in the first half.

The Hoyas are on a 6-0 run in the last three minutes.

De La Rosa checks in

Illinois graduate transfer Adonis De La Rosa checked into the game in the first half. He suffered a torn ACL last season at Kent State. He brings height to the Illini, where they lack.

Ayo Dosunmu is on a roll...again. He's got seven points for the Illini, who lead 12-6 with 15:50 left in the first half.

Illinois defense leading the charge early

The Illinois defense has forced four Georgetown turnovers in the first 2:40.

Illinois leads Georgetown 8-3 with 17:20 left in the first half. Andres Feliz has four points.

Starters announced

Illinois

G — Ayo Dosunmu

G — Andres Feliz

G — Aaron Jordan

F — Kipper Nichols

F — Giorgi Bezhanishvili

Georgetown

G — Jamorko Pickett

G — Mac McClung

G — James Akinjo

F — Trey Mourning

C — Jessie Govan

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